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Newsroom Archive: Dec 2017

20 December 2017

On International Solidarity Day, UN Women’s HeForShe global movement calls men to stand up against sexual harassment.

New York, NY (December 20, 2017) – In commemoration of the United Nations International Human Solidarity Day, UN Women’s HeForShe movement issues an urgent call for men around the world to stand together in solidarity with each other and with women, to end sexual harassment. While stories of power imbalance and sexual harassment dominate the headlines, most of men have abstained from the current conversation. HeForShe invites men to break the silence by recording a short video stating a personal commitment to end sexual harassment and sharing that video on social media as a public symbol of solidarity to the many brave individuals who have experienced sexual harassment. With each social media post, men invite three friends to do the same with a simple question; ‘Are you #HeForShe?’.

“Men must take personal ownership in calling out sexual harassment and the culture that enables it – responding with silent anger is not enough,” said UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. “Men everywhere need to take an active role, by listening to women’s experiences, speaking up when abuse occurs and holding other men – and themselves – accountable for their words and actions.”

A global solidarity movement for gender equality, HeForShe was launched in 2014 by British actor and UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador, Emma Watson, whose impassioned rallying call mobilized more than 100,000 men in just three days, and at least one man in every country in the world within the first five, garnering more than 1.2 Billion conversations on social media.

“Now more than ever we need good men to speak-up, because all it takes for injustice to prevail is for good men to remain silent,” said Elizabeth Nyamayaro, Senior Advisor to Under-Secretary-General, UN Women and Global Head of the HeForShe movement. “The simple question: Are you #HeForShe? offers an entry point for men to show their solidarity — because as long as the pursuit of gender equality remains a struggle between women and men, no one wins, “she added.

To learn more and participate in the ‘Are you #HeForShe?’ visit: www.HeForShe.org

On International Migrants Day, we call for the development of a gender-responsive global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration that promotes and protects the human rights of all migrants, and especially women and girls.

For too long, the gender dimensions of migration have been overlooked in policies and programmes that govern international migration. This means that the specific needs, experiences, vulnerabilities and priorities of women and girls in migration have not been adequately addressed. Nor have the voices of migrant women and girls been really heard, and their leadership and participation in decision-making processes promoted to their full extent.

Gender-based discrimination in migration policies continues to limit women’s access to safe and orderly migration pathways, and limits their job opportunities in transit and host countries. Hence, many migrant women end up in informal employment, particularly in the care and domestic sectors. These jobs not only perpetuate traditional gender stereotypes about what constitutes ‘women’s work’ but also offer no or few labour protections. This heightens the exposure of migrant women to severe forms of human rights violations which often occur inside homes where victims are unseen and unprotected. Along the migration trajectory and particularly if using irregular migratory channels, migrant women and girls also face increased risks of sexual and gender-based violence. This includes harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and cutting, sexual exploitation and trafficking, child, early and forced marriage, intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence.

We must end this situation. The global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, which will be finalized in 2018, represents an unprecedented opportunity to ensure that migration policies respond to and reflect the particular needs of migrant women and girls. As the first ever blueprint for international migration, the global compact will shape migration governance for generations to come—and women’s human rights need to feature prominently in this blueprint.

We, the Chair of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, Mr. Jose Brillantes, the Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Ms. Dalia Leinarte, and UN Women call upon States to ensure that the global compact for migration will promote and protect the human rights of all migrants, and in particular women and girls. The global compact needs to be aligned with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (ICRMW), and the other relevant international human rights instruments. The global compact should also contribute to achieving commitments made and targets set for migrant women and girls in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

We call on Member States to ensure that the global compact for migration contributes to:

Eliminating of all forms of violence against migrant women and girls including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation throughout all stages of migration. This requires putting in place access to services (both prevention and response) and means of redress for victims/survivors of violence, and holding perpetrators accountable.

Promoting women’s and girls’ leadership and full, equal and effective participation in all migration-related decision-making processes at all levels.

Guaranteeing equal access for migrant women and girls to human rights-based and gender-responsive services, including education, health care, including sexual and reproductive health care services, social services, and access to justice. Access to decent work and social protection needs be provided to all migrant women.

Recognizing and supporting migrant women’s economic rights, roles and contributions to the well-being of their families, communities, and countries of origin and destination.

Advancing international cooperation and migration governance that responds to the rights, needs and priorities of migrant women and girls. Root causes of migration such as deeply entrenched gender inequalities, conflict and poverty which are also often drivers of irregular migration should be addressed to ensure that migration is a choice.

Strengthening the collection and analysis of sex-disaggregated data and gender statistics in migration.

We are confident that the global compact can put an end to gender-blind migration policies and facilitate a world where migration is a choice for everyone and an expression of agency and empowerment: A world in which the human and labour rights of all migrants are realized, a world where no migrant is discriminated against on the basis of their gender, race or migratory status, a world where no migrant woman and girl needs to fear or experience any form of sexual and gender-based violence, a world that appreciates the myriad contributions of migrant women to sustainable development.

Today, on International Migrants Day, we stand together with all migrants: women, men, boys and girls, and count on all Member States and stakeholders to continue to promote and protect the human rights of all migrants, ensuring that no-one is left behind.

13 December 2017

Initiative aims to transform livelihoods of a million people by doubling their income in three years.

Paris/New York – A new United Nations initiative, aimed at building the resilience of a million women and youth in the Sahel to climate impacts through smart agriculture, was launched today at the One Planet Summit in the French capital. The launch coincides with a gathering of world leaders to mark the anniversary of the landmark Paris Climate Change Agreement.

The climate smart agriculture programme will leverage information and communication technologies (ICTs) to provide access to agriculture assets. Using a digital platform, known as ‘Buy-From-Farmers’ or AgriFed, small-scale women and youth farmers will be connected to customers, suppliers, information, markets and finance to help build their economic identity and make them valued entrepreneurs, able to end food insecurity in the Sahel.

The initiative is a programme of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS) and the G5 Sahel Secretariat. The participating UN agencies are the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization; the International Fund for Agricultural Development; the UN’s children’s organization UNICEF; UN Women; the World Food Programme; the International Organization for Migration, the UN Population Fund, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UN Development Programme, under the umbrella of the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWAS).

The G5 Sahel, the institutional framework for development coordination among the five countries in the region – Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger -, has identified combating climate change and environmental degradation, along with their effects on rural populations, as a priority. At the national level, governments are working on adaptation strategies; the new initiative is designed to support those efforts.

UN Women presented the programme, which is among some 12 showcased at today’s Summit, on behalf of the UN system.

Women make up over 40 per cent of the agricultural labour force in the Sahel and play a critical role in enhancing food security and nutrition. In most places with high prevalence of undernourishment, women farmers have significantly less access to land, information, finance and agricultural inputs. This makes them more vulnerable to climate shocks, affects their health and the food security and nutrition of the entire household. Lack of employment, on the other hand, puts youth at risk of terrorist recruitment.

The One Planet Summit, co-hosted by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron; the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres; and the President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, is aimed at supporting the formal UN process on climate action as nations look to raise climate ambition in the run up to 2020.

The Summit aims showcasing and launching innovative projects and initiatives that boost financial flows to support developing countries’ national climate action plans in areas ranging from agriculture to renewable energy.

It also looks at measures needed to reform, redirect and reset the global financial system so that eventually trillions of dollars of finance flows into climate action under the Paris Agreement and the wider Sustainable Development Goals.

Background on the new programme to boost resilience of women and youth in the Sahel

The joint UN initiative responds to 12 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and has the potential to economically empower at least 1 million people, mostly women, youth and marginalized groups in the Sahel, doubling their income in 3 years.

Building upon climate-smart programmes currently being implemented by the UN agencies participating in the joint initiative, it will contribute to the three pillars of climate-smart agriculture.

These include: increasing productivity and incomes without damaging the environment; enhancing adaptation by strengthening local communities’ resilience and capacities; and mitigation, by reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions through responsible farming, soil management and afforestation.

5 December 2017

The 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence may wrap up officially on 10 December, but the commitment of countless Australian workplaces, large and small, across diverse industries, to support survivors of violence and stop violence before it starts, will carry on.

Interviews with thirteen organisations form the latest report chronicling Australian workplaces’ world-leading response to gender-based violence, Taking the first step: Workplace responses to domestic and family violence, by UN Women National Committee Australia.

Violence against women is one of the most serious, life threatening and widespread violations of human rights globally. In Australia, 40.8% of women have experienced some form of violence since the age of 15.[1] Of those Australian women experiencing domestic and family violence, two-thirds of them are employed.[2]

Violence against women carries with it significant costs, to individuals, businesses and societies. It results in loss of income and increased costs for women who experience violence, due to the cost of accessing services and days off work. For businesses, research has found significant costs in terms of decreased productivity due to violence against women, both in and outside of the workplace.[3] It is estimated that domestic and family violence will cost Australian businesses $609 million annually by 2021.[4]

“For women working out of the home, who are experiencing violence at home, a job may provide one of the only escapes from abuse,” states Janelle Weissman, Executive Director, UN Women National Committee Australia. “Workplaces with policies in place to protect and support their employees experiencing violence can provide a vital lifeline to safety. And Australian organisations are leading the globe in their recognition of violence as a workplace issue, and their comprehensive response to keep people safe. These are stories we want to share not only within our country, but across the region and around the world to spur action throughout the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence and beyond.”

Today, UN Women National Committee Australia, joined by representatives from business, government and the community sector will launch a new report, Taking the first step: Workplace responses to domestic and family violence at an event hosted by Commonwealth Bank. With interviews, links to practical policies and templates, candid stories from organisations about what works and doesn’t, the report offers guidance to any organization that wants to take the first step to tackle domestic and family violence. Several community and customer-facing initiatives are featured, from Telstra to Commonwealth Bank, Rio Tinto to Mirvac.

“We must remember that violence against women is entirely preventable. Every organisation has a role to play to support its people who are experiencing domestic and family violence, and create a culture that does not tolerate violence or discrimination and actively promotes gender equality, to address the root cause of violence. Every change starts with a single step. We hope this report offers practical guidance and inspiration for people leaders and organisations willing to make change by taking a stand against violence,” says Janelle Weissman.